A/N: Thanks for all those lovely reviews, folks. So nice to know that you're enjoying the Zoe & Lemon friendship as much as I am :) Sorry for the delay in updating this one - the heatwave came and took away my ability to write! All back to normal now though, so here's the next installment :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 5

"George Tucker has a date."

The way Lemon said it made it sound like an event that was bound to cause imminent death or something equally as tragic. Zoe was actually quite surprised by how well she took the news herself, but also felt a little bemused by how bothered Lemon seemed to be. After all, wasn't it her who had the affair with Lavon, long before George had any feelings at all for Zoe?

"Didn't you hear what I said?" asked Lemon when Zoe failed to respond to her declaration. "George Tucker, the man I loved, the man you claim to have some pretty deep feelings for yourself, he has a date with a woman that is not either of us!"

"I heard you, Lemon," Zoe assured her, shaking her friend from her arm that she seemed to suddenly have a death-grip on across the reception desk. "I just... well, I guess I'm not exactly surprised," she explained, shrugging one shoulder. "After all, I did tell George that he should try seeing other people, to get over you, for starters, you know, given the whole fifteen-year relationship thing."

"You cannot tell me you really believed he would actually do that!" Lemon all-but exploded. "It's preposterous!"

Zoe sighed, tossing the patient file she brought out with her into the tray for re-filing.

"It's actually fairly normal," she explained to her near-hysterical friend. "He's a thirty-year-old man with good looks and charm, who is single for the first time since high school. Why is it so weird that he has a date?"

She really was curious about Lemon's reasons for getting so crazy about George and his dating habits. Zoe could see why some might think she herself would have a problem with it, but Lemon should be over George in the circumstances, surely. She had certainly seemed over him, until now.

"Why are you so calm about this?" asked Lemon frantically, instead of answering the actual question. "Is this because of Wade? Oh, dear God, did you go fallin' into his bed again?"

"No! Of course not!" Zoe denied it hotly. "Did he say that I did?" she checked then. "Because as much as he has tried - and he has - I have absolutely not let that happen again. No, sir!"

She ought to have known that being so vehement in her denial was going to make Lemon suspicious. Zoe watched her friend fold her arms and raise an eyebrow, not saying a word at first, just waiting for Zoe to crack. After a while, she must have realised she was going to get nothing unless she actually asked.

"What happened, Zoe Hart?"

Heaving a huge sigh, Zoe checked nobody else was hanging around to overhear, then leaned over the counter to make her confession.

"I went over to the carriage house for a couple of things I left behind when I moved out," she explained. "I didn't know Wade would be there, painting the place... without a shirt," she said, finding she had to force herself to keep her mind focused after she mentioned that particular sight. "And yes, I was tempted, okay?" she admitted to Lemon. "I am only a woman and he is..."

"Oh, I am well aware of what Wade Kinsella is," her friend told her snippily. "A horny dog with no good sense is one befitting description. Ugh, this day gets worse and worse!" she declared, putting her hand to her head.

Quite honestly, Lemon was just waiting for a headache to land today. Between George Tucker dating and Zoe getting real stupid over Wade, it was almost too much to bear. Not to mention she had this whole job thing that she had to keep up with. Not that she wasn't smart enough to keep up with the appointments and general administration of a doctor's practice, but Lemon really wasn't used to having to be someplace specific every day for so many hours yet. It took some getting used to.

"Okay, I have an idea," said Zoe suddenly, making Lemon startle - she really thought she had gone back to her office already. "I ran into AB on my way into work this morning. You know, she's still a little lonely and mopey since the whole husband leaving her thing. She's really suffering."

"We are all suffering, Zoe Hart," Lemon snapped. "You do realise that if the town gets to hear that George Tucker has a date tonight and I don't, he is going to come out the winner of this break-up. I cannot have that!"

She wished the words unsaid the second they were done, especially when she saw the smile on Zoe's face. The triumph of discovering the truth did not look good on the little doctor as far as Lemon was concerned.

"Oh, so, that's why his dating bothers you so much," she said with a look.

Lemon rolled her eyes. "Well, what other reason would there be?"

"I don't know." Zoe shrugged. "Okay, so, even better, you need a date, AB needs some fun, and if I am left to my own devices anywhere within a five-mile radius of the plantation or the Rammer Jammer, I am going to do something stupid."

Somehow, Lemon resisted a second eye-roll at that last part. She was more interested in what came next in Zoe's train of thought, rather than hearing anymore about the doctor's lustful feelings for Wade Kinsella.

"I'm assuming a plan follows this string of declarations?"

"Yes, a plan. Girls' night!" said Zoe with a wide smile. "Think about it. We get dressed up, get out of Bluebell for the night, have some drinks, maybe meet some new guys?"

"It's not the worst plan I ever heard," Lemon admitted as she gave the idea some thought. "Very well, Zoe Hart, if Annabeth also agrees, we will have this girls' night out," she said, with growing confidence and a smile of her own, "and Lord help anybody who tries to stand in our way!"

"Okay, this is not at all how I pictured girls' night," Zoe grumbled, sucking hard on her straw as she stared daggers across the bar at her so-called friend and room-mate. "We were supposed to get dates too!" she declared crossly a moment later.

Annabeth sighed, taking it with more good grace, as she usually did,

"Lemon's need is probably greater," she admitted, sipping daintily at her own cocktail. "She can't be seen to lose in the break-up with George Tucker, not after the whole wedding fiasco. It might just break her for real."

"Yeah, there is a soft squishy centre underneath that rock-hard exterior, huh?" Zoe considered.

She didn't realise Annabeth was staring at her at first, and when she did, she wasn't sure what to make of it. Especially the dopey smile on her face, as if she were looking at a cute little bunny rather than Zoe.

"You two really have got to be friends, haven't you?" she said then.

Zoe felt a panicky feeling in her chest, especially when Annabeth's next sip of alcohol was more of a gulp.

"Oh, I'm not trying to push you out, AB," she said fast, worried that was what she might think. "I would never-"

"Oh, Zoe, I know," she promised her, reaching to pat her hand. "I'm not sure anything could ever break me and Lemon apart, not after so long," she said definitely. "But I am all for you and I being girl-friends too. All three of us together, like The Three Musketeers, what's not to love about that?" she said, smiling widely once more.

Zoe smiled back, unable to help herself. "Nothing I can think of," she agreed easily.

She never had too many girl-friends before, and though she and AB had gotten close before, Zoe sure as hell never expected to become bosom buddies with Lemon Breeland. People certainly could surprise you, that Zoe knew for sure. Sometimes, she even surprised herself.

"Oh, my Lord!" Annabeth suddenly declared, grabbing Zoe's arm and trying to get her to look. "The cardigan is coming off. Ruby Jeffries is going down!" she said, giggling madly when she realised Lemon's victory was imminent.

"Go, Lemon!" said Zoe, almost too loudly, covering her mouth in the next second and laughing along with AB.

She was about to suggest another round of drinks when suddenly two glasses arrived on the table in front of her and her friend, the exact type of drinks they had been drinking, in fact.

"Hello, ladies."

Zoe looked up into the faces of two very handsome Southern gentlemen, forgetting her manners and not even saying hello or thanks for the drinks. It seemed to be fine, since AB was quick to fill in for her. The two guys introduced themselves and sat down at the table when Annabeth said they could if they wanted to, letting them know her name and Zoe's too.

As far as she knew, Zoe smiled and nodded in the right places, but truth be told, she wasn't really paying much attention to... whatever their names were. She was somewhat distracted by Lemon and the guy she was flirting up a storm with. She certainly was impressive when she hit her stride, Zoe couldn't deny it. Maybe she could be the same if she tried, especially since there was at least one guy at the table who seemed totally into her.

The problem was, Zoe's heart wasn't really in it. She didn't want nameless bar guy. Not that she really knew who she did want, but George and Wade's faces both appeared in her mind one after the other, then round and round like a merry-go-around until she was dizzy. Downing the last of her drink, she stood up fast and gestured towards the bar.

"I'm just going to get another one of these," she said, walking away before anyone could offer to follow or assist, which was so much the better as far as Zoe was concerned.

Suddenly, she just wasn't in the mood for company.

"And I thought my night had taken an unfortunate turn." Lemon sighed. "Annabeth Nass, why did you let her go on drinking when she was already drowning in liquor?"

They tried in vain to keep Zoe on her feet, not an easy task given the too-high heels the too-short doctor was wearing. Annabeth hefted from her side just when Lemon slackened her grip and poor Zoe almost went sprawling on the pavement.

"Lemon, I am not Zoe's keeper," AB insisted, "and I thought she could hold her drink. How was I to know that three daquiris was her limit?"

"Let's just get her into the apartment before too many folks see what the town doctor has done to herself... for the second time in as many weeks," she said, muttering the last part.

After all, to confess Zoe's drunken state from last week was to admit to her own too. They had shared that bottle of tequila, and the bottle of rum, and too many cookies, and way more secrets than they should have. It may have been a good bonding exercise, in a sense, but it was not to be repeated.

"I love my girl-friends!" Zoe declared, leaning more heavily on Lemon at first and then shifting to half-hug AB instead. "You two are the best. You know who else is the best? Wade!" she practically yelled right in Lemon's ear, laughing heartily despite the fact nothing she was saying was funny. "He's just the best at sex. Best sex I ever had. Like A plus, plus!"

"Ugh, I do not need to hear this," Lemon said with disgust, giving Zoe another shove to get her to the stop of the stairs and further on down the hall towards their shared apartment.

"I could stand to hear some more," said AB quietly, until her friend exploded at her.

"Annabeth!"

"What? I'm single now, I can hear about good looking men and what they're good at," she said with a look that Lemon could've gone her whole life without seeing.

Not that she got a chance to make any more complaints, with Zoe and her drunken rambling chiming in some more.

"It's more than that," she said, slurring more than ever as Lemon leaned her up against both Annabeth and the wall while she tried to get the apartment door open. "Wade is more than just a body and sex and... He was my friend. I lost a friend and... and I'm not okay with that," she declared, shaking her head so hard she almost knocked herself over.

"Come on now, Zoe," Lemon urged her, taking on most of the doctor's weight as well as manoeuvring her into the apartment.

She dropped her down onto the couch then headed straight to the kitchen to retrieved bottled water. Sure, she could brew some coffee, but this late, Zoe would probably be better just sleeping off the booze. Lemon sighed as she returned in time to hear her room-mate regaling AB with more tales of the wonder that was Wade.

"Here, plenty of water, then you can sleep off the worst of this night," she said, sitting down on the other side of Zoe and assisting her in downing the whole bottle of water.

Ten minutes later, she and Annabeth had Zoe on her bed rather than in it, covered by the comforter, with a waste paper bin nearby, just in case vomiting should occur in the night.

"You think she'll be okay?" AB asked worriedly as Lemon closed the bedroom door.

"She'll survive," Lemon insisted, heaving a sigh. "I'll listen out for her in the night, just in case the worst happens. Oh, what an end to this night."

AB looked sympathetic as she rubbed Lemon's arm.

"I'm so sorry things didn't work out with Walt."

That at least got a smile out of her.

"It's not your fault," she promised her friend. "It's not even Little Miss Liquor's fault," she said, jerking a thumb back towards Zoe's room. "I dived in to something I wasn't ready for, that's all."

"You're not over him, are you?" asked AB, an innocuous question, but not one Lemon answered immediately.

Her best friend - who as yet had no idea about Lemon's own affair - would mean George, of course. If only he were the real problem. Lemon knew it was another man that was distracting her thoughts tonight, keeping her from jumping in with both feet with a new man.

"I'll get there, in time, I guess," she said, knowing it was a truthful answer, both for AB and for herself.

It was all Lemon was willing to say for now. It had been too long a night to share anymore just yet. When she saw Annabeth picking up her purse and heading for the door, she was actually relieved, even if that did make her a less-than-great friend right now.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay dealing with Zoe?" asked AB, before she left.

Lemon rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I know the drill. Doctor's daughter, doctor's room-mate," she said of herself, "plus I have done my fair share of drowning my sorrows, I know what to expect. I promise you, AB, we will both be fine."

Having known each other as long as they had, it didn't take much for Annabeth to realise Lemon wasn't just talking about Zoe's drunken state. Both of the two unlikely friends and room-mates were going through their problems right now, but they were strong enough, they could make it through. It just might take a little time is all.

With a hug and a kiss on her cheek, AB bid Lemon goodnight and finally left. Lemon closed the door behind her best friend then turned to lean on it, sighing to herself. She didn't want to talk things out with AB and she couldn't talk to Zoe even if she did want to. There was someone she wanted to speak to about how she was feeling, but Lord knows, she didn't deserve him to want to hear it. Still, she found herself moving to pick up the phone, her thumb hovering over the keys to dial a number she knew too well. She barely pressed one digit when she heard a moan and a yell from Zoe's room, and then, the distinctive sound of a body rejecting the contents of its stomach.

"Wonderful," said Lemon to herself, going to grab a washcloth and run it under the cold water on her way to Zoe's room.

What a night this had turned out to be!

To Be Continued...